Habit History in Oral Submucous Fibrosis: Have We Over Emphasized?

AIM: Correlation of habit duration and frequency with clinical grading and histopathologic grouping of oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF). MATERIALS AND METHODS: 48 patients with OSMF were included in the study. Detailed history of each patient, clinical profile and habit history were recorded. Biopsy was performed for histopathological correlation. All the findings were correlated with Kerr et al and Khanna and Andrade classification. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Kruskal-wallis test was performed to assess the correlation between the study findings. RESULTS: Out of 48 OSMF cases majority were males. Maximum cases were in clinically and histopathologically respectively. Mouth opening was directly proportional with histopathological grouping as per Khanna et al. No correlation between frequency and habit duration with respect to different stages or severity of the OSMF was noted. CONCLUSION: Disease staging of OSMF clinically and histopathologically is not directly impacted by habit duration and frequency. Rather than habit centered history and management accordingly, more focus should be given to genetics and susceptibility of patient for OSMF development and progression.